Line #61 Recap/BlakesSevenS4E9Sand


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blakes_7_sand.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Servalan's walking FreudianExcuse. Well...we ''say'' [[PosthumousCharacter walking...]]]]
3	[[AC:Written by Creator/TanithLee.\
4	Directed by Vivienne Cozens.\
5	Airdate: 23 November 1981.]]
6
7	Don Keller, the SoleSurvivor of a Federation expedition to the planet Virn, sends out a DistressCall claiming that the planet he's stranded on has a unique property that will interest his superiors. Servalan takes a spacecraft to investigate, while the Seven go to find out what she's after and get their hands on it first. This leads to Servalan and Tarrant stranded on the planet together. You can guess what happens next.
8	----
9	!!This episode has the following tropes:
10
11	* ActuallyPrettyFunny:
12	-->'''Servalan:''' ''(evil titter)'' I hate to tell you this Tarrant, but you just killed an enemy of mine.
13	-->'''Tarrant:''' ''(grin)'' Everyone's entitled to one, very bad mistake.
14	* AffectionatePickpocket: Tarrant is [[LockedInARoom stranded on a planet]] with [[TheBaroness Servalan]], so they form an [[EnemyMine alliance to survive]]. When Tarrant has a EurekaMoment on how to defeat the MonsterOfTheWeek, Servalan gives him a SmoochOfVictory. Tarrant warns that he still has his gun...which [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Servalan]] promptly produces in ''her'' hand.
15	* AliensMadeThemDoIt: Though it's uncertain [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane just how much external influence was involved]]. Avon/Soolin/Dayna show no inclination to start bonking.
16	* ApocalypticLog: Keller's DistressCall.
17	* AtmosphereAbuse: ''Scorpio'' is dived through the atmosphere to create rain, which destroys the sand.
18	* AutoKitchen: Tarrant uses one to make dinner for two.
19	* BaitAndSwitchComment
20	** Tarrant looks like he's going to inform Avon that Servalan is down there, but then just tells Avon to teleport him up.
21	** "Del Tarrant, I had the gun but I didn't kill you. Yet."
22	* BabyFactory: The sand keeps a male and female couple alive to create future breeding stock.
23	* BigWhat: Vila does a rather hammy version.
24	* BBCQuarry: Averted despite an InUniverse justification for a great deal of sand!
25	* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: Reeve does this to Tarrant, thinking he's a member of the Keller expedition.
26	* BondVillainStupidity: Neither Tarrant or Servalan can bring themselves to kill each other.
27	* BuriedAlive: The sand partly covers Servalan's ship and the Keller survival hut.
28	* CallBack:
29	** To "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS3E12DeathWatch Death Watch]]" from Tarrant.
30	-->'''Servalan:''' What is your particular grudge against me?
31	-->'''Tarrant:''' Let me see. You sat and watched my brother die. That doesn't seem to make me like you very much. Aside from all the countless other reasons anyone might have for blowing your head off.
32	** Soolin mentions the events of "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS3E9Sarcophagus Sarcophagus]]" (also written by scriptwriter Creator/TanithLee), "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS3E13Terminal Terminal]]" and "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS4E1Rescue Rescue]]".
33	** Servalan reveals how she escaped the Liberator in "Terminal".
34	* ChekhovsGun: The cube of spring water that Tarrant gives Servalan is used by her to destroy the last of the sand on her spaceship.
35	* CompensatingForSomething: PlayedForDrama with a [[BrokenBird female character]].
36	-->'''Servalan:''' Don Keller, he was my lover. I was eighteen. [snip] He left me. I grew up. Power became my lover. Power is like a drug. [[EvilFeelsGood It is beautiful. Shining.]] I could destroy a planet by pressing a button. I loved him.
37	* ContinuityNod:
38	** Dayna is the first to show distaste for Tarrant sleeping with Servalan, a reference to her blood feud from "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS3E1Aftermath Aftermath]]".
39	** Servalan's comment that Tarrant is "decorative" recalls [[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E6SeekLocateDestroy Travis sneering at her "decorative staff men"]]. Apparently she HasAType.
40	* ADayInTheLimelight: For both Tarrant and Servalan.
41	* DeathWorld: Not in the EverythingTryingToKillYou sense; there's only one thing trying to kill you -- it just happens to be everywhere.
42	* DescriptionCut: A RunningGag involving Vila.
43	** Servalan's spaceship is ComingInHot. Cut to Vila shouting, "Bang!" while slamming a drink on the table.
44	** Tarrant gets the food replicator working. Cut to Vila complaining that he's hungry.
45	** Tarrant shoots out the windows. Cut to Vila starting awake at the sound of glass breaking.
46	* DefrostingIceQueen: Servalan shoots down Reeve, but warms up to Tarrant.
47	-->'''Reeve:''' Commissioner Sleer? In charge of the Pacification program? There's nothing for you on Virn. Unless someone thought I'd be lonely?
48	-->'''Servalan:''' I'm sure you're accustomed to loneliness, Investigator Reeve. [[StealthInsult You must be alone such a lot.]]
49	* DoubleMeaning: Servalan doesn't know if Tarrant is going to drag her back to the others at gunpoint.
50	-->'''Avon:''' [on CommLinks] We're bringing you up. Now.
51	-->'''Tarrant:''' All right. Oh by the way, I've found out what the magic chemical is... but I can't bring it back with me.
52	* DrivenToSuicide: The woman with Keller shot herself when she realized the sand was keeping them alive as breeding stock.
53	* DrowningMySorrows: Subverted; Vila appears to be doing this over memories of Cally, but he's actually having his LifeEnergy drained. He gets better once they remove him from the sand.
54	* EasilyForgiven: Servalan didn't just watch Tarrant's brother die (even Del Tarrant did that!); she was behind the conspiracy that got him killed.
55	* EnemyMine: Servalan/Tarrant. It only lasts until [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder Servalan thinks she has the advantage]].
56	* EurekaMoment: A dropped glass on ''Scorpio'' and Servalan's tears reveal the WeaksauceWeakness of the sand.
57	* EmpathicEnvironment: Justified as the sand is affecting the weather.
58	-->'''Dayna:''' Oh, and [[DramaticThunder thunder right on cue]]. This is silly.
59	-->'''Soolin:''' Is it?
60	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Or had.
61	* EvilerThanThou: Reeves is stated early on to be a torturer, just to establish that he's more nasty than our favourite villainess. He's also a [[EvilIsPetty bullying]] {{Jerkass}} in contrast to the AffablyEvil Servalan.
62	* FakeKillScare: Servalan tells Tarrant she can kill him because her pilot is still alive. But the audience has seen the sand inside her spaceship sliding towards Chasgo. Later Servalan finds Chasgo slumped over his console, but it turns out he threw out the sand and fell asleep from exhaustion (no doubt due to the sand draining his cellular energy before he got rid of it).
63	* FingerMuzzle: Just before he's teleported up Tarrant is about to say something to Servalan, but she silences him with this trope before he vanishes before her fingers.
64	* FixFic: Regarded as one for "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS3E5TheHarvestOfKairos The Harvest of Kairos]]". Specifically Reeve hits on Servalan with just the same kind of rapey overbearing machismo as Jarvik did in the earlier episode... and this time, because she's being written in character by a writer who isn't a notorious misogynist, she reacts with utter loathing and contempt.
65	* FoeCooties: When Tarrant reveals that the woman he was trapped with was Servalan, everyone walks off the flight deck in silent disgust (hopefully the rest of ''Scorpio'' has been repressurized). Except Avon, who makes a point of revealing that Servalan's chances of survival aren't good.
66	* FoeRomanceSubtext
67	-->'''Servalan:''' You are both resourceful and [[MrFanservice decorative]].
68	-->'''Tarrant:''' Thank you. I might say the same about you. But then I'd also say you're possibly the [[TheBaroness most unscrupulously venomous woman in the galaxy]]. Being shut in here with you is rather like being locked in a cage with a panther -- a black cat with [[WhatBeautifulEyes large golden eyes]] and long silver talons.
69	-->'''Servalan:''' Oh, Tarrant. I'm just the {{girl next door}}.
70	-->'''Tarrant:''' If you were the girl next door, I'd move.
71	-->'''Servalan:''' Where would you move to, Tarrant?
72	-->'''Tarrant:''' Next door.
73	* FreudianExcuse: See CompensatingForSomething. [[FridgeBrilliance This would explain]] not only Servalan's drive for power, but why she keeps bouncing back from every setback with yet another plan to increase that power.
74	* HairTriggerAvalanche: Chasgo testing the engines causes a sandslide. Or so it appears.
75	* HellIsThatNoise: There's a sound like the wind, yet Tarrant points out there is no wind, even though the sand is still moving.
76	* HilariousOuttakes: Creator/StevenPacey's clipgun [[ShurFineGuns goes off whenever he tries to pick it up]]. He also broke the cube of water, soaking them both.
77	* HumanResources
78	* ImpracticallyFancyOutfit: Servalan sashays through the sands of Virn in heels and a [[ExposedToTheElements black evening gown]]. Compare this to the more pragmatic but still stylish outfit she wears in "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS1E13Orac Orac]]".
79	* ItCanThink: Tarrant speculates that the sand has a rudimentary intelligence, and so can pick and choose its victims.
80	* ItsTheOnlyWay
81	-->'''Avon:''' ''[[SuddenlyShouting THIS IS NOT JUST A RESCUE MISSION FOR POOR GALLANT TARRANT!]]'' While the sand remains active, the planet will not let go of ''US!'' The instruments are unreliable. We have Virn hanging on our heels. How do you think ''WE'' are going to get away? ''[Soolin and Dayna rush to their positions.]'' [[DeadpanSnarker I take it that means yes.]]
82	* JustThinkOfThePotential: Though for once the persons concerned KnowWhenToFoldThem.
83	-->'''Tarrant:''' It appears the sand can nourish itself on the dead too so it makes sure the dead stay edible. And there's the unique element we came here to find, a preservative that acts indefinitely without dehydration or freezing. Oh it could be incredibly useful. It's also completely unget-at-able under Virn's built-in conditions.
84	* KillItWithWater: Water destroys the sand, so the crew of ''Scorpio'' makes it rain, giving Tarrant and Servalan a chance to get back to their ships.
85	* KillMeNowOrForeverStayYourHand: Servalan takes Tarrant's handgun and presses the barrel to her forehead.
86	* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: Given that the planet is somehow affecting power, both Reeve and Dayna/Tarrant bring weapons that fire 'percussion bullets'.
87	* LeaveNoManBehind: Averted with the Keller expedition who were callously abandoned by the Federation when it appeared they had fallen victim to a mysterious plague.
88	* LockedInARoom: Or stranded on a planet, then buried in a room. You could say it's an EnforcedTrope, given that the sand wants them to get together in a coital sense.
89	* TheLostLenore: Don Keller for Servalan.
90	* TheNicknamer: Reeve calls Servalan "Madam Brainwasher".
91	* NoOneCouldSurviveThat meets DiabolusExMachina.
92	-->'''Tarrant:''' How did you get away from the Liberator?
93	-->'''Servalan:''' It was difficult.
94	-->'''Tarrant:''' It was impossible.
95	-->'''Servalan:''' Manifestly not.
96	-->'''Tarrant:''' So how?
97	-->'''Servalan:''' The teleport. A [[ExplosiveInstrumentation malfunction.]] A [[TimTaylorTechnology power surge]]. Suddenly I was [[CasualInterstellarTravel back on a Federation world]].
98	-->'''Tarrant:''' What a [[PlotArmor lucky little commissioner you are.]]
99	* NotMeThisTime: Reeve reveals that he knows Servalan's identity and suggests she killed the RedShirt because [[YouKnowTooMuch he discovered this]]. While Servalan has done this in the past, the RedShirt was killed by the sand, and then Reeves is killed by Tarrant.
100	* OnlyAFleshWound: Reeve fires a wild shot and clips Dayna on the arm. Tarrant gives this trope but has Dayna teleported up to ''Scorpio''.
101	* OnlyElectricSheepAreCheap: Tarrant presents Servalan with a cube of Earth spring water.
102	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness
103	** Servalan is visibly nervous at times and openly distraught at finding her NewOldFlame's body. At the end of the episode, she doesn't kill Tarrant when she has the chance.
104	** Vila starts SuddenlyShouting when Soolin brings up Cally's death.
105	* OrAreYouJustHappyToSeeMe: A variation done by the person who's "happy". When Servalan gives Tarrant the SmoochOfVictory:
106	-->'''Tarrant:''' Remember, I have a gun.
107	%%* PercussiveMaintenance
108	* TheRadioDiesFirst: The sand effects the planet's magnetic field and thus electrical equipment, including CommLinks.
109	* RedShirt: Played entirely straight -- Reeve's nameless assistant gets sanded to death, while Chasgo survives.
110	* ReplacementGoldfish: Distraught over Keller's death, Servalan has SexForSolace with Tarrant and spares his life even though he's her enemy.
111	* RewindReplayRepeat
112	-->'''Reeve:''' Running the tapes again? Afraid you missed something?
113	-->'''Servalan:''' Perhaps I like watching old films.
114	-->'''Reeve:''' Five years old and mostly static and interference.
115	* SecurityCling: Servalan [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness jumps]] at a BeepingComputer and grabs Tarrant's arm.
116	* SendInTheSearchTeam: Keller sends out a DistressCall to a Federation that's more worried about [[EnemyCivilWar its own problems]] than rescuing a couple of survivors who could bring back a dangerous plague. Only Servalan of all people cares enough to go looking.
117	* SentientSands: The planet is covered with living, carnivorous sand, which tries to trap visitors and force them to breed so that it can have a farmed population to feed on.
118	* SexyDiscretionShot: Tarrant and Servalan kiss and are shown later [[RightThroughHisPants fully dressed]].
119	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Seeing that the sand is regenerating, Servalan runs for her spaceship, wakes up the pilot and orders him to launch immediately [[NoTimeToExplain without waiting for explanations]] or safety checks.
120	* ShiftingSandLand: Even when there's no wind to shift the sand...
121	* SignatureStyle: As in "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS3E9Sarcophagus Sarcophagus]]", Creator/TanithLee has a horror-and-romance theme for this episode.
122	* SpaceClothes: Investigator Reeves is wearing a silver bomber jacket and pants, while his crew wear the campy Flash Gordon uniforms from "The Harvest of Kairos".
123	* ScreenShake: When Servalan's ship and later Scorpio enter the atmosphere on Virn.
124	* TheSpock: Avon uses a Probability Square to work out what's going on.
125	* TortureTechnician:
126	-->'''Reeve:''' But Keller, now he strikes me like a man who's scared enough. They wreck their ship on landing and he was virtually alone. He'd say anything to save his skin. I've seen that kind of stuff from dozens of people under torture!
127	-->'''Servalan:''' Of course [[SarcasmMode you just happened to be passing the door when they said it?]]
128	-->'''Reeve:''' I get results. And I'll get results on Virn, if there's any to be got.
129	* VampiricDraining: The sand feeds on the [[LifeEnergy cellular energy]] of its victims. Tarrant even compares it to a vampire.
130	* WaxingLyrical: Keller does this in his CaptainsLog in the opening scene.
131	-->"I know a land beyond the heart of time. The sun never comes there. No moon ever shines. And man, a grain of sand, nameless and lost, blows with the dust. I apologise, H.Q., but that's what this place makes me think of."
132	* WhatTheHellHero: The crew react with disgust when they realise what Tarrant got up to with Servalan.
133	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: The moment Tarrant teleports down, Reeve starts feeling poorly.

Context Recap / BlakesSevenS4E9Sand